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The Twenty Dates by Ko Porteous #Review #EmptyNesters

It is good to return to The Empty Nesters series by Ko Porteous. The Twenty Dates was published by All Ways Publishing Ltd on October 8th. You can read my review of Book 1, The Freshman Parents   here The kids have left, assuming love endures. But can yours? Book #2 in The Empty Nesters Series   Claire’s marriage is in (total!) crisis. Her husband, Mark, is distracted, presumptuous, and utterly clueless - smart scales for their 19th wedding anniversary? Really? Perhaps she'd be better off alone. At least there'd be less laundry.   When Claire suggests separating, Mark panics. He asks for one last chance: twenty dates, one for each year of their marriage, to prove they're better off together than apart. What follows is a series of adventures Claire never saw coming - some mortifying, some exhilarating, and some that make her question everything she thought she knew. About Mark. About marriage. And about the woman she's quietly become while she wasn't payin...
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The Village Inn of Secret Dreams by Alison Sherlock #Review ~TheRiversideLaneSeriesBook3

 

It is a great welcome back to Alison Sherlock and her novels set in beautiful Cranbridge with The Village Inn of Secret Dreams. 

Brand NEW from the bestselling author of The Village Shop For Lonely Hearts.

After escaping her parents’ unhappy marriage to sleepy Cranbridge a long time ago, Belle Clarke dreams of staying at The Black Swan Inn forever.

But with the rundown Inn threatened with closure, Belle may be forced to leave, unless a buyer can be found … quickly.

So, when her oldest friend Pete Kennedy returns from working abroad with a plan to save the Inn, Belle should be overjoyed. The trouble is, Pete has some rather radical ideas for the renovation which Belle disagrees with.

But when a snow storm hits, Belle and Pete are forced to put aside their differences and work together to help the village.

Can Belle realise her dreams to stay in Cranbridge and can Pete ever stop running from his past?

As they try to save The Black Swan Inn, secrets are revealed and just maybe they’ll finally find out how they really feel about each other.


 My Thoughts 

I loved returning to Cranbridge to find out how all the characters were getting on and to see what Belle's story was going to be about. She's always been quite an interesting person, with her own quirks and vulnerabilities. As the story develops, you see her begin to face up to them and grow up a little. 

    The local community is central to the village once more and the local pub, The Black Swan, is set to come into its own. There are lots of good messages about looking out for each other and shopping locally which gives the whole novel a warm and inclusive tone. I am sure there are one or two more characters who can feature in their own story. As the name suggests, there are some secrets to uncover and the odd surprise as well. Family and friendship are still key and I am hoping that some more empty shops will be found to let the series grow!

 

In short: great characters and a community feel

About the Author


Alison Sherlock is the author of the bestselling Willow Tree Hall books. Alison enjoyed reading and writing stories from an early age and gave up office life to follow her dream. Her new series for Boldwood is set in a fictional Cotswold village and the first title was published in July 2020.

You can read my review of The Village Shop for Lonely Hearts here and The Village of Lost and Found  here

You can follow Alison here:  Twitter|  Facebook  |  Bookbub 
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Book link: Amazon UK 

Thanks to Alison Sherwood, Boldwood Books and Rachel of Rachel's Random Resources for a copy of the book and a place on the tour. 

Check out the rest of the tour!
 

 

 

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